1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an imaging apparatus provided with an imaging unit that is capable of outputting, as pixel information, an electrical signal obtained after a photoelectric conversion from pixels for imaging.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, an endoscope system has been used in an observation of an inside of organs of a subject in a medical field. In an endoscope system in general, an insertion part having flexibility and an elongated shape is inserted to an inside of a body cavity of a subject such as a patient, a white light is radiated on body tissues in the inside of the body cavity through the inserted insertion part, and a reflection light is received by an imaging unit at a distal end of the insertion part to capture an in-vivo image. The in-vivo image captured in this manner is displayed on a monitor of the endoscope system. A user such as a doctor observes the inside of the body cavity of the subject via the in-vivo image displayed on the monitor of the endoscope system.
In the endoscope system, an imaging element is embedded at the distal end of the insertion part, the imaging element transmits an electrical signal obtained after a photoelectric conversion as an image signal to a signal processor, the signal processor processes the transmitted signal, and thus an image captured by the imaging element is displayed on the monitor to allow an observation of the inside of the subject.
In recent years, a high definition of in-vivo images has been demanded for smoothly making a diagnosis and performing a treatment. In response to the demand, there has been proposed an endoscope system in which an electrical signal is converted into an optical signal at a distal end of an insertion part and the converted optical signal is transmitted to a signal processor by using an optical fiber cable to transmit image signals including volumes of data for supporting and realizing the high definition (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-260066).